Fre­quent­ly Asked Questions

What does it mean to have men­tal illness?

Men­tal ill­ness­es are med­ical con­di­tions that dis­rupt a person’s think­ing, feel­ing, mood, abil­i­ty to relate to oth­ers, and dai­ly func­tion­ing. Tech­ni­cal­ly, men­tal ill­ness is defined as: con­di­tions char­ac­ter­ized by impair­ment of an individual’s nor­mal cog­ni­tive, emo­tion­al, or behav­ioral func­tion­ing, and caused by social, psy­cho­log­i­cal, bio­chem­i­cal, genet­ic, or oth­er fac­tors, such as infec­tion or head trauma.

Some of the more com­mon dis­or­ders are depres­sion, bipo­lar dis­or­der, demen­tia, schiz­o­phre­nia and anx­i­ety dis­or­ders. Symp­toms may include changes in mood, per­son­al­i­ty, per­son­al habits and/​or social with­draw­al. Men­tal ill­ness­es can affect per­sons of any age, race, reli­gion, or income.

Can men­tal ill­ness be treated?

Yes, and it can be treat­ed quite effec­tive­ly. In fact, 70 – 90% of indi­vid­u­als have sig­nif­i­cant reduc­tion of symp­toms and improved qual­i­ty of life with a com­bi­na­tion of phar­ma­co­log­i­cal and psy­choso­cial treat­ments and support.

Just as there are dif­fer­ent types of med­ica­tions for phys­i­cal ill­ness, there are dif­fer­ent treat­ment options avail­able for indi­vid­u­als with men­tal ill­ness. Treat­ment works dif­fer­ent­ly for dif­fer­ent peo­ple. Your ther­a­pist and/​or doc­tor should work with you to find the right com­bi­na­tion of treatments.

Where can I go for help?

Ken­neth Young Cen­ter is a men­tal health facil­i­ty equipped to help you find treat­ments, solu­tions and resources. Call KYC and speak with an Intake Coor­di­na­tor who will point you in the right direction.

You can also vis­it the Resources page on our web­site for addi­tion­al sources of support.

How are ser­vices paid for?

Ken­neth Young Cen­ter works hard to keep all ser­vices afford­able and acces­si­ble to every­one. Ser­vices can be paid for in cash, or by per­son­al or gov­ern­ment insurance.

Because the State of Illi­nois, as well as the town­ships of Elk Grove and Schaum­burg sub­si­dizes our costs, peo­ple liv­ing in these two town­ships are charged on a slid­ing scale fee accord­ing to what you can afford, and if you have insur­ance. We will also work with your pri­vate and/​or gov­ern­ment insur­ance includ­ing Med­ic­aid and Medicare.

Where can I find infor­ma­tion about what my insurance/​Medicaid/​Social Secu­ri­ty ben­e­fits will cover?

If you have health insur­ance, your insur­ance provider should be able to answer spe­cif­ic ques­tions regard­ing coverage.